Understanding frequency and version settings in CrashPlan for Home

CrashPlan tracks multiple versions of each file as it backs up changes over time. Versions can be restored from a backup to restore a file's previous state, but retaining too many versions can create complications with your backup. This tutorial includes considerations for changing your version retention settings.

What do the frequency and versions settings do?

CrashPlan watches the file-system in real-time for new and changed files in your file selection and adds them to a to-do list.

Over time, frequency and versions settings work together to slowly remove older file versions backed up by CrashPlan (i.e. two months from now, you may not need to restore a file from 8:45 AM when the daily snapshot will do). As your backup grows, these settings decrease memory usage in the CrashPlan app and save storage space at the destination. Older file versions are removed during regular archive maintenance based on your version settings.

We do not recommend increasing these settings to back up more frequently than the default settings. However, if you have a large file selection, consider changing your settings to back up less frequently or increasing the memory allocated to the CrashPlan app.

You can tell CrashPlan to only retain a single version of older files. This may be useful if you have large files that change frequently, but for which older versions provide little value. For example:

a database

Photoshop project file

iMovie project file

ProTools project file

To only retain a single version of a file, set your retention settings to:

Last week: every week

Last 90 days: never

Previous years: never

Please note that your retention settings apply to every file backed up to particular destination. In other words, if you are backing up to CrashPlan Central, your version retention settings apply to every file backing up to CrashPlan Central regardless of the backup set to which a file belongs.

Where are the versions I am looking for?

On the Restore screen in the CrashPlan app, clicking the triangle icon next to a file displays previously backed-up versions of that file.

In certain circumstances, there might be fewer versions than you expect if CrashPlan is trying to back up certain files but can't access them. The most common causes are:

the file is open and in use by another application (and the normal method of backing up open files is failing)

the file is locked due to permissions or other issues

Why is CrashPlan consuming system resources?

CrashPlan monitors changes to files in real time, based on the backup frequency and versions settings selected. More frequent backups or large numbers of files require CrashPlan to use more system resources to process your backup. Even small file selections at higher-than-default frequency can cause the CrashPlan app to delay in backing up your files due to file monitoring.

A common reason for having a large number of files selected is that the entire hard drive is selected for backup. As part of its normal operation, your computer creates and modifies a large number of system and application files, which are small. Because CrashPlan prioritizes its to-do list based on file size and creation date, this data is backed up before other important personal files in your backup selection. Moreover, there is no advantage backing them up, as you don't typically directly interact with system files and application data.

Some symptoms you might see if CrashPlan backs up system or application files: